720 ILCS 5/19-6 – Home Invasion

Posted by Christopher Combs on March 30, 2026

720 ILCS 5/19-6 – Home Invasion

This law makes it a serious crime to break into someone’s home when people are inside and use or threaten force, hurt someone, or use a weapon.

This Illinois law says that entering someone’s home without permission and using force, or pretending to be someone else to get in, is a crime called home invasion. It sets different punishments depending on whether weapons are used or if anyone is injured.

(a) A person who is not a police officer on duty commits home invasion if they knowingly enter the “dwelling place of another” (their home) without permission and know (or should know) that someone is inside, or stay there until they know someone is inside, or lie about who they are (for example, pretending to be a worker or government representative) to get in, and then do any of the following:

Have a dangerous weapon (not a gun) and use or threaten force on anyone inside.
Intentionally hurt someone inside the home.
Have a gun and use or threaten force on anyone inside.
Use or threaten force and fire a gun during the crime.
Fire a gun and cause serious harm, disability, disfigurement, or death to someone inside.
Commit certain types of sexual assault or abuse against someone inside the home.

(b) It can be used as a defense if the person who entered someone’s home without permission leaves right away or peacefully gives up to the people lawfully inside without hurting or trying to hurt anyone.

(c) Sentence: This crime is always a Class X felony, which is one of the most serious types of felonies. The punishment depends on what happened:

If it involved items (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(6), it’s a Class X felony.
If it involved (a)(3), a Class X felony plus 15 extra years in prison.
If it involved (a)(4), a Class X felony plus 20 extra years in prison.
If it involved (a)(5), a Class X felony plus 25 years up to life in prison.

(d) “Dwelling place of another” includes a home where the person used to live or rent but can’t go anymore because of a court order, such as a divorce judgment or an order of protection.

View the full statute here.